In the description that follows the lighting device will be described with particular reference to head wear such as hats, berets, sailor-hats, uniform head wear, caps etc. It will, however be clear that the lighting device disclosed may be fitted to any textile mounting, particularly clothing, as well as rigid mountings such as plastic caps.
Several solutions have been proposed to fit lighting devices to caps, particularly baseball caps.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,738,431 discloses a lighting case fitted to a cap and held in position by the type of hook and loop fastening system sold under the mark Velcro®. The size of the case means that the case can only be positioned outside the cap; moreover it is impossible to adjust the direction of the beam.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,741,060 discloses a smaller system consisting of a mounting fitted with two light bulbs and a switch mounted under the visor of the cap body. Like the invention of the previous patent, no adjustment of the direction of the beam is possible. Moreover, the positioning of the lighting device is limited in that it can only be fastened to a horizontal mounting.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,541,816 discloses a cap in which the visor is fitted with a lighting system with an adjustable beam. More exactly, the device disclosed consists of a case containing a battery that powers an adjustable lamp fastened to the underside of the cap visor. Although this system allows the direction of the beam to be adjusted, it is clumsy and unattractive in appearance. Moreover the weight of the batteries tends to cause sagging of the visor so that the lamp may obstruct the user's field of vision.